Published 1 year ago
by
Sandy Schaefer
, Updated February 6th, 2014 at 9:32 am,

There’s been several rumors about the Fantastic Four movie reboot – ranging from who’s in serious discussion to join the cast to plot details – and while you’re probably as tired of reading (and as tired as we are of reporting them) as director Josh Trank, the film will soon finalize its cast ahead of production this spring.

A handful of 20-something up and comers are reported as having been either given consideration or tested for roles in Trank’s F4, which may take its cues from the Ultimate Fantastic Four comic book continuity and make the eponymous superheroes (as a whole) younger than they are in non-Ultimate F4 comics. Those aren’t the only steps in a new direction for the F4 movie franchise that this reboot looks to take, as you may’ve heard by now.

THR is confirming a longstanding claim that Michael B. Jordan (as Johnny Storm/Human Torch) is the only actor attached to the F4 reboot currently, as a result of 20th Century Fox “exercising the option” it has on the actor following the found-footage hit Chronicle (also directed by Trank). That Jordan is a handsome and charismatic actor whose star is rapidly on the rise – thanks to his performances in films like Fruitvale Station – makes him a nice catch for the film and arguably deserving of the role, despite controversy over the “race-switching” of the Human Torch character.

Michael B. Jordan is attached to ‘Fantastic Four’

Speaking of departures from the traditional F4 mythos, THR‘s Heat Vision has also been hearing that classic F4 villain Dr. Doom will again be the central antagonist in Trank’s movie reboot. The word from their insiders is that the role will be filled by a big name – a bigger name than Julian McMahon (who played Doom in director Tim Story’s F4 movies) anyway – and that the character might be gender-switched. Nothing is set in stone just yet, though, so best to wait for additional information on this topic.

Meanwhile, screen testing is ongoing for Trank’s comic book film, though some of the previously-mentioned names have been ruled out due to scheduling conflicts or related issues. The two actresses reported to have tested for Sue Storm/Invisible Woman just yesterday are Kate Mara (House of Cards) and Emmy Rossum (Shameless), while Christian Cooke (Romeo and Juliet (2013)) is reported to have recently tested for Ben Grimm/Thing. In addition, Miles Teller (That Awkward Moment) appears to still be the front-runner to play Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic, as competitor Kit Harington (Game of Thrones) has moved on to other projects.

Mara has been shortlisted for the F4 reboot for several months now, whereas other previously-named starlets like Saoirse Ronan (The Grand Budapest Hotel) and Margot Robbie (The Wolf of Wall Street) appear to be no longer in the running. Like Teller and Jordan, Mara in particular is someone who’s arguably “earned” the right to headline a superhero franchise, after doing fine character work on shows like House of Cards and American Horror Story, in addition to films like 127 Hours and 10 Years.

Kate Mara is in the running for ‘Fantastic Four’

If nothing else, the cast shortlist for the F4 reboot is evidence of something that our editors discussed on a recent Screen Rant Underground Podcast episode (as part of a conversation that partly dealt with the latest Batman vs. Superman casting): that in general, major studios are no longer interested in pleasing hardcore fans with the casting for superhero comic book movie blockbusters. Even Marvel Studios – widely considered to be one of the more fan-friendly studios – has begun to move further and further away from that box (see: Ant-Man casting).

So far, though, a good chunk of these casting selections/rumors (including those for F4) have involved bringing in top-notch talent and/or embraced diversity and change in the comic book industry (if only for commercial/demographic-marketing purposes) – neither of which reads as a bad thing, when you stop to give it a fair amount of thought. Feel free to take that into consideration, while sounding off about the latest F4 news in the comments section of this article.

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Fantastic Four is scheduled to open in U.S. theaters on June 19th, 2015.

140 Comments

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SteveRogers 1 year ago

This rumor will get debunked. Marvel wouldn’t allow them to make Doom a woman. They can use Lucia Von Bardas or Morgan Le Fey.
Imo, Jordan will be a great Torch. It would be awesome to see him team-up with Andrew Garfield. That being said, I kinda think Sue Storm needs her blonde locks ya know. Most of you commenters I doubt have ever even read F4, so your opinions are pretty pointless.

Flame on, Michael B. Jordan. Flame on.
I’m actually getting more and more excited about this movie. I know the female Dr. Doom is just a rumor so far, but would definitely want to see that. It wouldn’t ruin the character if they still kept the doctor’s traits and personality: an arrogant, brilliant, evil megalomaniac and an intellectual rival to Reed. The character wouldn’t have to be male to be that.
In a reboot I think you could only ‘ruin’ the new version of the character by giving them vastly different traits/personalities from earlier iterations, like the Mandarin in IM3.

hell yea he means ben kingsley! he looked like and was advertised as being a modern version of the manderian then the audiance gets a big screw u by making him a fake

and even if he was talking about aldrain kiliage or whatever his name is, that wasnt anything remotley close to what the mandarin is….. thats like giving a big muscle bound vilian mind control and psychic powers and calling him the joker

People, you do understand most super heroes were written as white, due to the time they were created. The public or editors would not have been willing to get behind a super hero who was not white. They were characters and could have been any race. However, I guess society is still reluctant to the idea of major super heroes being a different race. All that matters is the core of the “person” staying intact.

It’s one of those things where people grow up with a certain idea or image and then don’t like it when it’s turned on its head for whatever reason.

Perfectly reasonable, I didn’t like the skinny version of He-Man when they remade Masters Of The Universe in the early 90s featuring He-Man on a planet that wasn’t Eternia and with epic space battles like a Star Wars movie.

Sorry, simply not buying into the whole white privilege guilt trip. The character Johnny Storm was created caucasian as was his biological sister Susan Storm. If you’re going to change one, you at least have to change them both. There were actually several heroes from that era that WERE black, not that any buying into the guilt will either acknowledge or recognize. Black Panther, Luke Cage……

Genderbending is getting ridiculous in Hollywood. Here’s one that will solve everything…
Every major character in any classic book, story or comic who is male – just make them female. Every major character in any classic book, story or comic who is caucasian – just make them some other ethnicity. IN fact, how about we do this…in every movie made from here on out there shalt NOT be ANY white caucasian males present…ever. There. Problem solved Hollywood. Now if you really want to fix it completely? Make all the characters gay. Presto! Done! Rant over .

That sounds amazing, your point you are trying the make that is. I would love to see how people would react if a black or other ethnicity role was cast as a white male or female, then we will see how alright people would be with color switching.

I’m sorry, but this seems like a train wreck. Jordan is a great actor, but not the torch. Why not Reed if they want to go PC, but not ruin the movie. Dr. Doom female, stupid. Chronicle was a great movie, but this looks to be awful. The F4 stories have been great for 50 years, they don’t need to move completely away from all that history just for a lame attempt at being “contemporary”

The female Dr. Doom rumor was only put out there to deflect attention from the “torch is black” backlash. Once the Doom rumors are proven false people will say OK to Jordan because at least “they are only changing one thing”.

I’ve read the comments and I have to agree all this gender/race changing isn’t for art/acting’s sake it’s money plain and simple change a woman to a man or a white to black,Money money and most times it backfires, I mean look at that last Will Smith sci fi film he got top starring in, it bombed Whites won’t go see blacks in the parts,and changing a white character to black will once again prove futile.But the burnt black jokes are going to happen.. and making the Black panther white I agree try and see what happens, I mean did they make “Falcon” white for capt. America or recast a white to play Nick Fury??

I’m hoping this is in the same vein as ‘no such thing as bad publicity’. Could be a purposely misleading rumor ‘leaked’ by fox just to get everyone buzzing about this already unsalted cracker bland (sounding) movie. Honestly it would be monetary suicide to change the gender of your main antagonist. My initial comment was going to be the same as a lot of others I’ve read, if they make Dr Doom a T-X on her monthlies I won’t be going to see this film. I’m rooting for fox to do this correctly with fort knox guarded optimism. Why not just completely throw in the towel and make doom a large looming cloud on it’s way to earth?

I’m Black and I’m not in favor of writers changing the race of long standing characters.
I would be equally upset if they changed the race of the Black Panther, Cyborg, Storm or Luke Cage. I still get peeved when I see black Amazons roaming around in Wonder Woman’s universe. They’re opening a door that cannot be closed.

i dont mind torch being black…like screenrant said months ago, when he is on fire you cant tell what color he is anyway….also sue doesnt have to be black …they could be half brother sister or adopted or something

female dr doom sounds dumb to me …. whats next? lets make the thing a midget, invisiable woman a transvestite and reed richards a mentally challanged homosexual who has a crush on the thing…in fact y call it f4 at all???

Sue and Johnny don’t have to both be black or both be white. It’s the 21st century. Lots of possiblities to go with like…

1. Could be step brother and step sister(there single parents married each other)
2. could be half brother and half sister (Different dad’s or different mom’s)
3. one could have been adopted.
4. maybe they grew up together in an orphanage and were close like brother and sister.

1. Could be step brother and step sister(there single parents married each other)
2. could be half brother and half sister (Different dad’s or different mom’s)
3. one could have been adopted.
4. maybe they grew up together in an orphanage and were close like brother and sister.